The Downsides of Healthcare Consolidation

Over the past few decades, many healthcare organizations have consolidated to cut the labor costs incurred by their steadily growing administrative staff. However, in a talk presented at the 2022 National Association of Managed Care Physicians (NAMCP) Spring Managed Care Forum, speaker Bill Vandivier, DO, discussed the unintended downsides of this approach. Research shows that patients fail to reap health benefits from mergers.

According to an AJMC article by Gianna Melillo, “Taking a look at consolidation since 2010, research has revealed no improvement in patient care following mergers, yet a worsening in patient satisfaction scores. Higher inpatient mortality was also documented following consolidation when there is less competition in the market. ‘As you try to hold prices, drive prices, drive turnover, patient care becomes a backseat sometimes,’ Vandivier said. ‘And as you do that, you increase morbidity and mortality.’”

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(Source: AJMC, April 21^st, 2022)